Louvers are widely employed for control of the amount of light transmission through a given horizontal or vertical aperture and into a room through a window, or in the case of roof mounted louvers onto a deck or floor below. Adjustment of the total light transmission into a given area through a louver assembly is conventionally accomplished by concurrent synchronized rotation of each member of an assembly of louvers from a fully open position substantially perpendicular to the adjacent wall or roof surface to a closed position substantially parallel to the adjacent wall or roof surface. In the closed position louvers generally have a width allowing for overlap of the adjacent louvers to thereby minimize light transmission through the assembly. In cases where louvers are employed in horizontally disposed array such as over a patio, the louvers may also be used to inhibit the passage of rain or moisture through the exterior roof and onto the occupants and furnishings below.
Conventional louvers or window shutters are generally comprised of rectangular panels that are sized to cooperatively engage with the window frames around a window or other opening. Such panels generally are formed about their perimeter using two parallel side members known in the industry as stiles and two parallel end rails communicating with the stiles. Operationally engaged into the panels is a horizontal array of parallel louvers that can be rotated on axles or similar rotational attachments engaged with the stiles. The louvers are generally of a width to overlap when closed, and in the cases of window mounted assemblies the louver width must be such that the assembly is aesthetically pleasing and can vary from louvers less than 1 inch in width to louvers over 3 inches in width.
Adjustment of the rotational positioning of conventional non-gear driven louvers is accomplished by laterally translating an external tilt rod which attaches to one front edge of each louver to thereby vertically rotate the louvers in their engagement with the stiles. All louvers so attached to the rod will thus rotate to substantially the same angle in relation to the window when the rod is translated and thus regulate the light transmission into the room through the change in size of the gaps formed between the louvers.
Louvers rotated in this fashion are, however, easily rotated out of the desired position by gravity, vibration, or jarring, thus presenting a constant problem in the gaps therebetween becoming too large or too small to yield the desired light transmission into the room. The use of tilt rods also creates a visual obstruction in the center of each panel and obstructs in the cleaning of the louvers by blocking access thereto. The use of external tilt rods also does not work well with horizontally positioned louver assemblies since the rod itself inherently wants to close the assembly if it is positioned on its top and to open the assembly if positioned on the bottom.
Gear driven louver assemblies are known in prior art and provide an alternative to the tilt rod type of adjustment. However, many of the available gear driven devices require the use of rods which are inflexible for fear of binding and must have gears formed along the entire surface of the elongated rod which will exactly match and engage the specific gears on the louvers. No adjustability is provided to change both the tooth size and number and the positioning of the gears which rotate the louver gearing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,094,864 (Hsu) attempts a solution to this problem by employing a pair of U-shaped columns which engage the ends of a plurality of louvers. Hsu, however, requires the use of a rod having gears of a fixed dimension and spacing formed about its entire surface increasing cost and limiting its use with louver gears that match the teeth on the rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,658 (Digianni) attempts to solve the problem inherent to rod rotated louvers by using an elongated gear formed on the entire surface of an operating rod. However, Digianni is still easily moved from proper adjustment by vibration or abrasion and requires the user to grab a louver to adjust the device increasing the likelihood of louvers getting dirty or damaged. Further, placing gear teeth on the entire rod surface increases the cost of the device. Also, the use of continuously geared rods increases the chance that gear engagement will be affected by expansion and contraction along the entire length of the rod. This risk is increased if the geared rod is formed of material different than that of the stile guiding it.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,272,722 (Morin) discloses a worm gear driven device for rotation of windows. As disclosed however, Morin is not easily constructed due to the need to align worm and communicating gears and also requires the use of yokes and other devices for use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,680 (Buckwalter) teaches a gear driven internal system similar in operation to the above noted art. Buckwalter too requires specific gearing formed along the entire length of the rod driving the louver engaged gears increasing cost and limiting the user's flexibility to adjust gear sizing and positioning to the louver' gear size and positioning.
As such, there is a pressing need for a louver rotating system that provides for minimal gearing on the elongated rod which translates to rotate the louvers. Such a device should provide for easy location of gear modules in positions to register in engagement with the gears attached to rotatable louvers. Such a device should provide an easy means of attachment of the gear modules in the proper position and if need be provide for the attachment of gear modules of different gear sizes and in differing positions on the elongated rod to accommodate both a plurality of different width louvers and a plurality of different geared engagements between the gears on the louvers and the gear module. Still further such a device should be easily assembleable by the user and when used in a horizontal louver installation, provide for longer length rods which are of sufficient flexibility to translate over large roofs and coverings if need be.
Further, such a louver adjustment system should maintain the louvers in the user desired position and should not be easily affected by gravity, vibration, or jarring. Additionally, such a louver adjusting device should provide minimal potential of jamming from friction from the rod and stile or other rod engaging device which might occur using dissimilar materials with different expansion and contraction characteristics. Finally, such a louver adjusting system should be easy to adjust even in minute amounts to provide the optimum amount of light transmission through the gaps between the louvers for the user.